Save Tonight
by TigressLily
Summary: yeah, it's a/t. as in, arabella/tom. as in, arabella figg/tom riddle. does that sound weird to any one else?? anyhow, it came to me random;y, r/r to tell me if u like it or i won't continue
1. Chapter One

don't ask me where this came from. sorry bout the quidditch, i know, i'm obsessed. i know i'm writing a billion other things, but it'll only be two or three long, so please r/r  
  
Save Tonight   
Fight the break the dawm  
Come tommorrow  
Tommorrow I'll be gone  
  
Arabella Figg sat on the bed, absently stroking her cat. Actually, it was just one of her cats...she was only supposed to have one...but when Miffy went and decided to have a litter, well, that wasn't Arabella's fault, now was it?   
  
So she absently stroked one of her cats, and thought about Dumbledore had said in class that day.  
  
"Dark Arts are not dark to those they appeal to," he had said in the middle of their Transfiguration class. "They see it purely as a power that can and should be used. And if extrodinary power can be harness through inhumane means, then why not use it?"  
  
Arabella had held her breath, thinking that Dumbledore, of all people, was rationalizing Dark Arts. "Because," and his voice had gone a steely cold, " It isn't humane. It's power...that's meant to stay with the bearer, and not forced out. The power of love is always stronger than the power of hate."  
  
It had come totally out of the blue, this dark arts slash philosophy lesson, but perhaps that was why it had stuck with Arabella for the rest of the day, which was perhaps how the head of the Gryffindor house had meant it.  
  
"Scooch, Alf," she told the cat, who was edging on to her pillow.  
  
"Talking to cats again?" Sibyll Trelawney, her year mate, drifted in. "Honestly, Arabella..." Sibyll sniffed; it was beneath her to consult anything closer to earth then the stars.  
  
"Oh, shut up, Sibyll." Minerva McGonall stormed into the room, obviously unhappy. "Don't you have anything better to do than pseudomagic?"  
  
"As opposed to living mylife as a witch ignorant of the fates?" Sibyll retorted scowling.  
  
"Just because you can't do anything else," Minerva muttered, but Sibyll didn't hear her, which was perhaps fortunate.  
  
"Arabella!" Minerva saw her other classmate for the first time. With another glare at Sibyll, she bounded over. "Proffessor Dumbldore was acting kinda weirdly today, don't you think?" She scrounged up her nose in a way that meant she was thinking.  
  
"He was looking at Tom when he said it," Arabella said slowly. "You know, Dumbledore doesn't like him, and he isn't usually that judgemental."  
  
"The fates have informed me," Sibyll said, pausing for dramatic affect, "That Tom Riddle is my destiny." She sighed dreamily.  
  
Arabella snorted, and Minerva scowled. "I've got to go to Quidditch practice," Arabella said, once she had smothered her giggles. "See ya later!" She smiled, and bounded out. Minerva, faced with the prospect of being alone with Sibyll, decided to go down to the common room, followed by a trail of kittens. Each -human and non-human- turned up it's nose at it passed the 'divine' student.  
  
Oh, damn. Arabella scowled as she saw green cloaked figures approaching the field below. She glanced at Jacob Wood, who hadturned positively red, and followed the rest of the team down to the ground to confront the Slytherins.  
  
"It's our turn on the field, Malfoy." Wood managed to choke down his anger enough to speak. With the the two groups lined up and facing eachother, and the last rays of light cast across the field, it looked like a stand off.   
  
Which, perhaps, it was.  
  
"What are you going to do about it, Wood?" Lucius sneered. "Make us leave?" The Slytherins were indeed imposing in their bulk; all were formidible, with only Lucius and Tom Riddle considered normal in stature.  
  
But Wood stood his ground firmly, and the Gryffindors moved a bit closer. Lucius turned his sneer to Arabella. "Running out of guys over at Gryffindor," he taunted. "Have to get girls to fight your battles now?"  
  
Arabella would have tackled him, then and there, but Wood's glare held her back. "'fraid you'll get beat by a girl, Malfoy?" Wood smiled slightly, and glanced over at Arabella. She nodded. "Care to find out?"  
  
Malfoyhad turned pink by now. "No girl... or Gryffindor," he added, just for extra measure, "could beat ANY slytherin." He smiled. "So why don't we find out if she's better than Riddle, over here."  
  
Tom, though not particularly bulky, was extremely tall, and even more so as he straghtened up with a slightly malicious smile, and turned slowly to Arabella.  
  
How can Sibyll like him? Arabella thought, blushing as Tom's gaze ligered over her. He's so... arrogant. Ugh.  
  
"Fine." Wood frowned, wondering how Lucius weasled his way out of this one. "A race. Back and forth across the field."  
  
Tom's gaze moved to Wood, leaving Arabella relieved. She mounted her broom,and hovered, waiting for Malfoy's reply. But it was Tom who answered.  
  
"Sure. For the field, right?" He lifted an eyebrow, as though challenging Wood to say no.  
  
"Yes," Wood hissed, sounding for all the world like a coiling snake. Arabella would have flown to the end of of the field, but Wood caught her arm, still glaring at the Slytherins.  
  
"You know you can beat him," he whispered fiercely. "Just go out there, and do your best." But they both knew he meant win.  
  
Arabella smiled, covering up her anxiety. "In the broom, Jacob." She flew off.  
  
The Slytherins had decided they were going to 'ref' which pretty much consisted of moving their considerable bulk into Arabella's lane. The Gryffindors, understandably, did not take kindly to this, and a small fight was started between Lucius and Wood. Again.  
  
Tom looked over and smiled. "They don't get along, do they?"  
  
Arabella smiled as well, but it turned into more of a grimace as she watched Lucius throw a well aimed punch at Wood. "You started it, you know."  
  
Tom laughed. "It's not entirely our fault Wood's a fanatic and has booked the field every day from now until Spring."  
  
"Well... I guess," Arabella admited grudgingly, remembering theearly morning practices Wood had called last week, until Dumbledore made him stop because various Quiditch players were snoozing during class. She turned her gaze back to the fight, where Wood had whacked his broom over Malfoy's head. "How long do you think this will take?"  
  
"Longer than I'm willing to wait." Tom swung his broom around, then glanced back over his shoulder. "You coming?"  
  
Arabella glanced at Wood, and shook her head, slightly ruefully. "Wood would kill me," she told him, looking with fondness over to the Quidditch captian.  
  
Tom shrugged. "Whatever." He zoomed off back to the castle.  
  
Arabella watched him go, with mingling relief and regret. Tom Riddle, school hero, the one that had uncovered the mystery of the chamber of secrets last year. And Tom Riddle, who Dumbledore, of all people, despised.  
  
Tom Riddle. Arabella sighed.  
  
  
  
Don't ask. I know, kinda weird. oh well. r/r, tell me if you like it, so i know whether to write more or not.  



	2. Chapter Two

Don't ask. Even though i only got five reviews (sniff) i'm going to continue writing it anyhow. Much more romantic than many of my other ones, but ulterior motives are floating around...  
  
Save tonight  
Fight the break of dawn  
Come tommorrow  
Tommorrow I'll be gone  
  
"You wanted to see me, Proffessor?" Arabella knocked hesitantly on the door.  
  
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore motioned for her to have a seat. He waited for a few moments before speaking, the only sounds the crackiling of the fire.  
  
"Arabella...," Dumbledore shook his head, and seemingly changed his mind. "You heard what I said in class today, about dark arts?"  
  
"Well...yes." Arabella attempted a weak smile. "It was kind of random."  
  
Dumbledore smiled to, but it was a sad smile. "I presume you know of Grindelwald?" He looked at her questionly. Arabella nodded. "He was the first dark wizard to rise in a long time...and he nearly succeeded."  
  
Arabella smiled slightly childishly. "But you stopped him, Proffessor."  
  
"He came closer to power than anyone really suspected... he was just missing one, key element," Dumbledore mused, think aloud. He turned his attention back to Arabella. "Very few people realized the full truth of the matter...to some, his power was extremely tempting. Extremely tempting," he repeated, again staring off into the fire.  
  
"Yes, sir." Arabella tried to look as though Dumbledore's thought's were making sense.  
  
Dumbledore smiled benevolently at her. "Just be careful, Arabella. And remember that it's never too late."  
  
"Okay." Arabella was still cofused, and wasn't sure where the application of his advice was supposed to go, but nodded anyhow. She stood up. "Thank you, Proffessor."  
  
  
  
  
Tom Riddle satslouched in the most unlikeliest of places. Beneath the broken sink of the girl's bathroom.  
  
Not that anyone would be there to catch him. They were all scared to death of Myrtle.  
  
"Hi, Tom." Mrytle floated out of one of the stalls. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Tom smiled at the ghost. Being dead had certainly improved her disposition; she had always before been a whining, sniviling little brat.  
  
"Nothing much, Mrytle. Just thinking." It was amazing how little guilt he felt. He didn't even particualarly like killing people, but he understood it all to be nessacary.  
  
He wished to open up the chamber again, to let loose it's power, but didn't dare. He was never going to get sent back to that orphanage.  
  
Maybe the basilisk could use the power of it's view on Arabella Figg...  
  
Tom laughed out loud at himself. Where did that thought come from? He didn't know.  
  
But it was his ability to laugh at himself that made him so dangerous.  
  
  
  
  
"How'd she get like that?" Arabella looked doubtfully over at Sibyll, who was deep in a trance, her face a deathly pale.  
  
"I dunno." Minerva looked slightly worried. "She's never been in a trance for longer than a few moments."   
  
"Maybe I should go get Madam Pomfrey." Arabella seemed hesitant, but one look at Sibyll's face convinced her. She turned to go.  
  
"Wait!" Arabella turned to find Sibyll in the exact same position, but her eyes were now open, if unfocused.  
  
"He will leave." Minerva turned to Arabella worried, as Sibyll began speaking. "Within a month, he will leave, and leave his heart behind him. With that gone, he is free to rise. And the one he left his heart with will do everything she can to stop him from rising." With one great sigh, she collapsed.  
  
Minerva looked startled. "Do you think she was faking that?" She asked, not believing.  
  
"I don't know." Arabella took one more look at her. "I'll go get Madam Pomfrey in case."  
  
Arabella pounded silently down the hallways. Tap,tap, tap. It was late, around eleven, and no one else was about.  
  
To her dismay, she found the nurse's wing closed for the night, with words that changed colors reading 'Please see Proffesso Dippet if it is Urgent."  
  
"Something wrong?" A voice cut through the silence behind her like a knife in the dark.  
  
Arabella jumped slightly. "Oh, just Sibyll being weird," she said, turning to face Tom Riddle. "She's really quite good at it."  
  
"Oh." Tom looked as though he didn't really care. But he at leastmadea good effort. "Prophesy stuff?"  
  
Arabella nodded, frowning as she thought about what Sibyll had said. "She made a prediction that sounded almost real, even if it was vague."  
  
"Really?" To his credit, Tom feigned intrest. But when Arabella replied, he didn't have to feign it.  
  
"'He will leave'," Arabella muttered, more to herself than to him.   
  
"Who will leave?" Tom asked, with sudden ferocity and vehemence.  
  
"Don't know." Arabella shrugged, and looked at Tom, suprised at his outburst. In his seven years at Hogwarts and her six, she had never once seen him display anything but a cold, calculated light in his eyes. And now they gleamed with intensity.  
  
"Was there anything more?" Tom pressed.  
  
"Oh, yeah." Arabella was slightly taken aback. "He will leave his heart behind him, and without that he will rise." She frowned. "And the person he gave his heart would do everything to stop him." She gazed off into empty space, and Tom wasn't able to guess what she was thinking. Which was a new feeling for him, because he was usually quite good at judging emotions.  
  
"Intresting," Tom muttered, thinking aloud.  
  
Arabella looked at him, thinking about what Dumbledore had told her. 'Be careful, it's never too late.'  
  
Tom had been lost within his own thoughts, but felt her eyes resting on him. "See something?" He asked her, bemused, and placed a light hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah." Arabella smiled sweetly, all the while wondering if she was doing the right thing. She looked up to meet his eyes, and found herself lost in a mass of swirling grey. She opened herself up to him, but Dumbledore's words, and her own, secret motivation was buried wih the strongbox of her soul, so small that Tom didn't know it even existed.  
  
I knew something was keeping me down, Tom thought, the voices within his head a whisper. And she has given me the answer...  
  
  
Tom was not one to be subject to whim, but he couldn't have told you why his hand slid down her shoulder to her waist, or why he brought her closer to him, or why he pressed his mouth against hers.  
  
Ironically, Arabella could have.  
  
"Arabella?" he whispered, drawing back slightly to look at her. His eyes had a hungry look in them, which both frightened and excited her. Arabella shook her head slightly, and moved into the encompassment of his arms.  
  
"Not tonight," she whispered. Tom bent over to gently kiss the top of her head.  
  
And both thought they had won.  
  
  
Wow...i don't usually go for the sappy romance junk...though it's really not sappy they're going to live happily ever after, in case you couldn't tell. Anyhow,r/r 


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